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{{Short description|Memorial-museum in West Bengal, India}}
{{About|the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata|other memorials to Queen Victoria|Victoria Memorial (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}

{{Infobox museum
| name = Victoria Memorial
| logo =
| image = Victoria Memorial situated in Kolkata.jpg
| image_size = 300 px
| caption =
| map_type =
| map_caption =
| latitude =
| longitude =
| former_name =
| established = {{Start date and age|1921|df=y}}
| location = 1, Queens Way, [[Maidan (Kolkata)|Maidan]], [[Kolkata]] (Calcutta), [[West Bengal]] 700071
| type = Museum
| curator = Samarendra Kumar
| architect = [[William Emerson (British architect)|William Emerson]], [[Vincent Esch]]
| owner = [[Government of India]]
| collection = 50,000
| visitors = 5 million annually
| founder = [[Lord Curzon]]
| website = {{URL|http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/|victoriamemorial-cal.org}}
}}
{{Coord|display=title|22.5449|88.3425}}
The '''Victoria Memorial''' is a large marble monument in the [[Maidan (Kolkata)|Maidan]] in Central [[Kolkata]] (Calcutta), having its entrance on the Queen's Way. It was built between 1906 and 1921 by the [[British Raj]]. It is dedicated to the memory of [[Queen Victoria]], the [[Empress of India]] from 1876 to 1901.
The work of construction was entrusted to [[Martin Burn| Martin & Co.]] of Calcutta founded by [[Rajendranath Mukherjee]] and [[Thomas Acquin Martin]], and work on the superstructure began in 1910.
It is the largest monument to a [[monarch]] anywhere in the world. It stands at {{convert|26|ha|acre}} of gardens and is now a museum under the control of the [[Ministry of Culture (India)|Ministry of Culture]], [[Government of India]].<ref>[http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-monuments/victoria-memorial.html Victoria Memorial] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202094428/http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-monuments/victoria-memorial.html |date=2 December 2009 }}. ''http://www.iloveindia.com''.</ref> Possessing prominent features of the [[Indo-Saracenic architecture]], it has evolved into one of the most popular attractions in the city.

== History ==
[[File: Queen Victoria -Golden Jubilee -3a cropped.JPG|thumb|200px|Empress Victoria]]
According to historian Durba Ghosh, [[Viceroy of India]] [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon's]] "plans for the historical museum that became the Victoria Memorial Hall predated Victoria's death in 1901. When he addressed a group at the Asiatic Society, he admitted that he had always planned to build such a historical museum. The queen's death had provided an appropriate occasion to monumentalize the empire."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=Durba |date=March 2023 |title=Stabilizing History through Statues, Monuments, and Memorials in Curzon's India |journal=The Historical Journal |language=en |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=348–369 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X22000322 |issn=0018-246X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

After Victoria's death on 22 January 1901, Curzon wrote to [[Lord George Hamilton]], the [[Secretary of State for India]] on 24 January, noting the "importance of Victoria's matriarchy to promoting loyalist feeling."<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Plunkett |first=John |date=2022-02-09 |title=A Tale of Two Statues: Memorializing Queen Victoria in London and Calcutta |url=http://19.bbk.ac.uk/article/id/6408/ |journal=19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century |volume=2022 |issue=33 |doi=10.16995/ntn.6408 |doi-access=free |issn=1755-1560|hdl=10871/129016 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> He proposed the construction of a grand building with a museum and gardens.<ref>Herbert E. W. [https://books.google.com/books?id=f_S9sNe8f7AC&q=curzon+viceroy+india+victoria+memorial "Flora's Empire: British Gardens in India."] (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012), p. 224. {{ISBN|0-8122-0505-7}}</ref>
Curzon said on 26 February 1901 in his address to the Asiatic Society,

{{blockquote|"Let us, therefore, have a building, stately, spacious, monumental and grand, to which every newcomer in Calcutta will turn, to which all the resident population, European and Native, will flock, where all classes will learn the lessons of history and see revived before their eyes the marvels of the past; and where father shall say to son and mother and daughter — ‘This Statue and this great Hall were erected in memory of the greatest and best Sovereign whom India has ever known. She lived far away over the seas, but her heart was with her subjects in India, both of her own race, and of all others. She loved them both the same. In her time, and before it, great men lived, and great deeds were done. Here are their memorials. This is her monument.’<ref name="Dutta">Dutta K. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC&q=victoria+memorial+calcutta+opening "Kolkata: a cultural and literary history."] S – 131. {{ISBN|1-902669-59-2}}</ref>}}

The government officials, princes, politicians, and people of India responded generously to Lord Curzon's appeal for funds, and the total cost of construction of the monument, amounting to one crore, five lakhs of [[Rupee|Rupees]], was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Victoria Memorial Hall |url=http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030613111755/http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/history.html |archive-date=13 June 2003 |website=Official Website of the Victoria Memorial Hall}}</ref><ref name="Dutta"/>

The site chosen was near the present-day [[Raj Bhavan, Kolkata|Raj Bhawan]], known at the time as Government House. The construction of the Victoria Memorial was delayed by Curzon's departure from India in 1905, with a subsequent loss of local enthusiasm for the project. There was also some uncertainty about the strength of the foundations, and tests on them were carried out.<ref name=Sharma/> On 4 January 1906, [[George V|George]], the [[Prince of Wales]] laid the [[foundation stone]].<ref name=Know>{{Cite web |url=http://www.archive.india.gov.in/knowindia/culture_heritage.php?id=68 |title=Monuments - Victoria Memorial - Culture and Heritage - Know India: National Portal of India |access-date=12 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212061246/http://www.archive.india.gov.in/knowindia/culture_heritage.php?id=68 |archive-date=12 February 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The work of construction was entrusted to [[Martin Burn|Messrs. Martin & Co.]] of Calcutta, and work on the superstructure began in 1910.<ref name=Know/> In 1911, before construction was finished, [[George V]], the [[Emperor of India]], announced the transfer of the capital of India from Calcutta to [[New Delhi]].<ref>Gordon D. (ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=uxqUTnAdoP4C&q=capital+india+calcutta+to+delhi "Planning twentieth-century capital cities."] (Planning, History and Environment Series. Routledge, 2006) p. 182 {{ISBN|0-203-48156-9}}</ref> Thus, the Victoria Memorial would come to stand in what would be a major provincial capital, rather than the national capital. The Victoria Memorial was completed and formally opened to the public in December 1921 by the Prince of Wales, the future [[Edward VIII]].<ref name="Sharma">Sharma A. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rTbv4jcRHccC&q=%22victoria+memorial%22+1921 "Famous monuments of India."] Pinnacle Technology, 2011. {{ISBN|1-61820-545-5}}</ref><ref name="Know" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Plunkett |first=John |date=2022-02-09 |title=A Tale of Two Statues: Memorializing Queen Victoria in London and Calcutta |url=http://19.bbk.ac.uk/article/id/6408/ |journal=19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century |volume=2022 |issue=33 |doi=10.16995/ntn.6408 |doi-access=free |issn=1755-1560|hdl=10871/129016 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

After 1947, some additions were made to the Memorial.

A smaller Victoria memorial was also constructed in the [[Hardoi district]] in [[North-Western Provinces]] (in modern [[Uttar Pradesh]]), which has since been converted into a city club for recreation. [[Mahatma Gandhi]] addressed meetings in Hardoi in the 1930s.

== Design and architecture ==

[[File: Queen Victoria's statue inside the memorial in Kolkata.jpg|thumb|200px|Thomas Brock's statue of Queen Victoria inside the memorial]]
The architect of the Victoria Memorial was [[William Emerson (British architect)|William Emerson]] (1843–1924).<ref>[http://www.kolkatainformation.com/calhert/v_mem.htm "Victoria Memorial."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310203805/http://www.kolkatainformation.com/calhert/v_mem.htm |date=10 March 2007 }} ''http://www.kolkatainformation.com''.</ref><ref>Kumar R. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BT77yuqxGj4C&q=%22william+emerson%22+architect+india "Essays on Indian art and architecture."] Discovery Publishing House, 2003. p16. {{ISBN|8171417159}}, 9788171417155. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.</ref> The design is in the [[Indo-Saracenic architecture|Indo-Saracenic style]], mixing British and [[Mughal architecture|Mughal]] elements with [[Venetian Gothic architecture|Venetian]], [[Ancient Egyptian architecture|Egyptian]], and [[Deccan Plateau|Deccani]] architectural influences.<ref>Knight L. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NVfTufIqlD8C&q=%22william+emerson%22+architect+india "Britain in India, 1858 – 1947."] Anthem Press, 2012. p85. {{ISBN|0-85728-517-3}}, 9780857285171. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.</ref> The building is {{convert|338|by|228|ft|m|abbr=on}} and rises to a height of {{convert|184|ft|m|abbr=on}}. It is constructed of white [[Makrana marble]].<ref name="hermann">Hermann M. [https://books.google.com/books?id=c8EDZqQqK2gC&q=%22william+emerson%22+architect+india "Architecture in India."] GRIN Verlag, 2011. {{ISBN|3-640-92977-2}}, 9783640929771. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.</ref> Curzon deliberately intended the central chamber to be {{convert|64|ft|m|abbr=on}} in diameter in order to be slightly larger than the Taj Mahal. In design it echoes the [[Taj Mahal]] with its dome, four subsidiaries, octagonal-domed [[chattris]], high [[Portal_(architecture)|portals]], terrace, and domed corner towers. He also suggested that on the walls might be inscribed in golden letters [[Government_of_India_Act_1858|Victoria's proclamation of 1858]]. Around the interior walls of the [[rotunda]] of the memorial are a series of twelve canvas [[Lunette|lunettes]] by [[Frank O. Salisbury|Frank Owen Salisbury]] celebrating key moments in Victoria's life, such as her first [[Privy Council]] — moments already mythologized in countless other biographies, prints, and paintings.<ref name=":0" />

The gardens of the Victoria Memorial were designed by [[Lord Redesdale]] and [[David Prain]]. Emerson's assistant, [[Vincent Jerome Esch]], designed the bridge of the north aspect and the garden gates. In 1902, Emerson engaged Esch to sketch his original design for the Victoria Memorial.

On top of the central dome of the Memorial is the {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} figure of [[Nike (mythology)|the Angel of Victory]] by Esch, which was cast by [[H.H. Martyn & Co.]] of [[Cheltenham]].<ref>Whitaker, John, "The Best: a history of H.H. Martyn & Co", 1985, Page 136</ref> Surrounding the dome are [[allegorical sculpture]]s including ''Art'', ''Architecture'', ''Justice'', and ''Charity'' and above the North Porch are ''Motherhood'', ''Prudence'' and ''Learning''.

The Victoria Memorial would end up with two statues of Victoria rather than one. George Frampton had been commissioned to produce a statue in Calcutta to commemorate the Queen's [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Diamond Jubilee]] in 1897. "Cast in bronze and depicts an enthroned and aged Victoria, looking down on her world while wearing the robes of the [[Order of the Star of India|Star of India]] and holding the [[Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom|orb and sceptre]]." It arrived in Calcutta in 1902 and was unveiled on the maidan by Lord Curzon. In January 1914, Curzon commissioned [[Thomas Brock]], who had also created the [[Victoria Memorial, London|Victoria Memorial in London]] to produce a statue of Victoria in her [[Coronation of Queen Victoria#Crown jewels and coronation robes|coronation robes]] to serve as the 'keynote' of the central hall.<ref name=":0" /> [[File:Angel_of_Kolkata_Victoria_Memorial.jpg|thumb|200x200px|The Angel of Victory, on top of the Memorial]]

The bronze gate at the entrance to the memorial, bearing the [[Coat of arms of the United Kingdom|royal coat of arms]], was also cast by Martyns.

== Museum ==
The Victoria Memorial has 25 galleries.<ref>Chander P. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4_Rl5c_v1-kC&q=%22william+emerson%22+architect+india "India past and present."] APH Publishing, 2003. p148 {{ISBN|8176484555}}, 9788176484558. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.</ref> These include the royal gallery, the national leader's gallery, the portrait gallery, central hall, the sculpture gallery, the arms and armory gallery, and the newer, Kolkata gallery. The Victoria Memorial has the largest single collection of the works of [[Thomas Daniell]] (1749–1840) and his nephew, William Daniell (1769–1837).<ref>Freitag W. M. [https://books.google.com/books?id=beHYAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22thomas+daniell%22+victoria+memorial&pg=PT251 "Artbooks: a basic bibliography of monographs on artists."] 2503. Victoria Memorial (Calcutta). ''A descriptive catalog of Daniells work in the Victoria Memorial (Museum). 1976.'' Routledge, 2nd edition, 2013. {{ISBN|1-134-83041-6}}, 9781134830411. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.</ref> It also has a collection of rare and [[antiquarian]] books such as the illustrated works of [[William Shakespeare]], the ''[[Arabian Nights]]'' and the ''[[Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam|Rubaiyat]]'' by [[Omar Khayyam]] as well as books about [[kathak]] dance and [[thumri]] music by [[Wajid Ali Shah|Nawab Wajid Ali Shah]]. However, the galleries and their exhibitions, the programmatic elements of the memorial do not compete with the purely architectural spaces or voids.<ref>Dutta A. [https://books.google.com/books?id=T-cJ1DJHG7IC&q=%22william+emerson%22+architect+india "The Bureaucracy of beauty: design in the age of its global reproducibility."] Routledge, 2013 p294. {{ISBN|1-135-86402-0}}, 9781135864026. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.</ref><ref>Moorhouse G. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eR0WhGXILVYC&q=Calcutta+gallery+victoria+memorial "Calcutta."] Faber & Faber, 2012. {{ISBN|0-571-28113-3}}, 9780571281138. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.</ref>
[[File:Statue_of_Lord_Curzon_at_Victoria_Memorial,_Kolkata.jpg|thumb|303x303px|Statue of [[Lord Curzon]]]]

=== Victoria Gallery ===
The Victoria Gallery displays several portraits of Queen Victoria and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], and paintings illustrating their lives, by [[Franz Xaver Winterhalter|Winterhalter]], [[Frank O. Salisbury|Frank Salisbury]], and [[William Powell Frith|W. P. Frith]].<ref name=RG/> These are copies of works of art in England. They include Victoria receiving the sacrament at her coronation in [[Westminster Abbey]] in June 1838; [[Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Victoria's wedding to Prince Albert]] in the [[Chapel Royal]] at [[St James's Palace]] in 1840; the christening of the [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales]] in [[St. George's Chapel]], [[Windsor Castle]], 1842; the wedding of the Prince of Wales to [[Alexandra of Denmark]] in 1863; and paintings of Victoria at the service for her [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Golden Jubilee]] at Westminster Abbey in 1887 and her [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Diamond Jubilee]] service at [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in June 1897.
Queen Victoria's childhood rosewood [[pianoforte]] and her correspondence desk from Windsor Castle stand in the center of the room, having been presented to the Victoria Memorial by her son Edward VII. On the south wall hangs the oil painting by [[Vasily Vereshchagin]] of the state entry of the Prince of Wales into [[Jaipur]] in 1876.<ref name=RG>[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/royalgal.html "The Royal gallery."] ''http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050224035004/http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/royalgal.html|date=24 February 2005}} Retrieved 1 January 2017.</ref><ref>Dutta A. [http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/gallery-reopens-at-victoria-memorial-after-a-decade/article3887521.ece "Gallery reopens at Victoria Memorial after a decade."] ''The Hindu'', 12 September 2012. Accessed 14 December 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.culturalindia.net/monuments/victoria-memorial.html Victoria Memorial Hall.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806082140/http://www.culturalindia.net/monuments/victoria-memorial.html |date=6 August 2013 }} ''http://www.culturalindia.net''. Accessed 14 December 2013.</ref>

=== Kolkata gallery ===
In the mid-1970s, the matter of a new gallery devoted to the visual history of Kolkata was promoted by [[Saiyid Nurul Hasan]], the minister for education. In 1986, Hasan became the governor of [[West Bengal]] and chairman of the Victoria Memorial board of trustees. In November 1988, Hasan hosted an international [[seminar]] on the ''Historical perspectives for the Kolkata tercentenary''. The Kolkata gallery concept was agreed and a design was developed leading to the opening of the gallery in 1992.<ref name="Dutta" /> The Kolkata gallery houses a visual display of the history and development of Kolkata when the capital of India was transferred to New Delhi. The gallery also has a life-size [[diorama]] of [[Chitpur]] road in the late 1800s.<ref>[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/calgallery.html "Calcutta Gallery."] ''http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org''. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422214037/http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/calgallery.html|date=22 April 2016}}. Accessed 1 January 2017.</ref>

== Gardens ==

[[File:Victoria_Memorial_Gardens,_Calcutta,_India.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Victoria Memorial gardens]]

The gardens at the Victoria memorial cover {{convert|26|ha|acre}} and are maintained by a team of 21 gardeners. They were designed by Redesdale and [[David Prain]]. On Esch's bridge, between narrative panels by [[Goscombe John]], there is a bronze statue of Victoria, by [[George Frampton]]. Empress Victoria is seated on her throne. In the paved quadrangles and elsewhere around the building, other statues commemorate Hastings, [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis]], [[Robert Clive]], [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]], and [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie]]. To the south of the Victoria, Memorial building is the Edward VII memorial arch. The arch has a bronze equestrian statue of Edward VII by [[Bertram Mackennal]] and a marble statue of Curzon by [[F. W. Pomeroy]]. The garden also contains statues of [[Lord William Bentinck]], governor-general of India (1833–1835), [[George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon]], governor-general of India (1880–84), and [[Rajendra Nath Mookerjee]], a pioneer industrialist of Bengal.<ref name="Dutta" />
Following an order of the West Bengal High Court in 2004, an entry fee was imposed for the gardens, a decision welcomed by the general public except for few voices of dissent.<ref>{{ cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Victoria-fee-for-a-good-cause-say-morning-walkers/articleshow/965979.cms | title=Victoria Fee for Good Cause | work=Times of India | date=2004-12-21 | access-date=2020-03-31 }}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="170" heights="140" mode="packed">
File:Victoria Memorial Kolkata at night.jpg|Victoria Memorial with [[St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata]], in the foreground.
File:Victoria Memorial Night 5.jpg|Victoria Memorial illuminated at night.
File:Victoria Memorial Illuminated at Night.jpg|Victoria Memorial Illuminated at night
File:Sunset-at-victoria-memorial.jpg|Summer sunset
File:Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata.jpg|Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
File:Lakes of victoria.jpg|One of the ponds surrounding the Victoria Memorial
File:Kolkata3.JPG|The moon and Angel of Victory at Victoria Memorial
File:Kolkata Victoria Memorial South side.JPG|South side
File:India - Kolkata Victorian museum - 4258.jpg|King [[Edward VII]] Arch in the Victoria Memorial Gardens.
File:Victoria Memorial Kolkata (37610124104).jpg|George Frampton's statue of [[Queen Victoria]] outside the Victoria Memorial Hall
File:Victoria Memorial Pano 5.jpg|Victoria Memorial and [[The 42 (Kolkata)|The 42]].
File:Mother and Child sculpture on the Victoria Memorial.jpg|A sculpture of a Mother holding a child in one hand and a sword in the other hand
File:Ketan donate5.jpg|Statue of ''Motherhood''
File:The Apotheosis - C381 - Victoria Memorial (cropped).jpg|Gallery under the dome with scenes from the life of Queen Victoria: 1. The Apotheosis of Queen Victoria's reign
File:The Jubilee service at Westminster Abbey - C382 - Victoria Memorial (cropped).jpg|2. 1887 Golden Jubilee Service at [[Westminster Abbey]]
File:The Diamond Jubilee Service at St Pauls - C383 - Victoria Memorial (cropped).jpg|3. 1897 Diamond Jubilee Service at [[St Paul's Cathedral]]
File:The Lying in State - C384 - Victoria Memorial (cropped).jpg|4. 1901 lying in state of Queen Victoria.
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Victoria Memorial, Kolkata}}
{{Wikivoyage|Kolkata/Maidan}}
*{{Official website|www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/}}
*[http://indiatourism.ws/kolkata/victoria_memorial/ "360 degree spherical panoramas of Victoria Memorial."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020094703/http://indiatourism.ws/kolkata/victoria_memorial/ |date=20 October 2016 }} India Tourism.

{{Kolkata topics}}
{{Tourist attractions in Kolkata}}
{{Queen Victoria}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1921 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1921]]
[[Category:City museums]]
[[Category:Gardens in India]]
[[Category:20th century in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Marble buildings]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials to Queen Victoria]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1921]]
[[Category:Museums in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture]]
[[Category:National museums of India]]
[[Category:20th-century architecture in India]]
[[Category:British colonial architecture in India]]

Victoria Memorial, Kolkata - Revision history

Meherhospital: Starting Basic Details Nd Citations - done